Broken promises and corruption fuel Brazil protests

By Rogério Simões, Special to CNN

Updated 6:36 AM ET, Fri June 21, 2013

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – Police fire rubber bullets at a protester during clashes in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, June 20. Demonstrations in Brazil began in response to plans to increase fares for the public transportation system but have broadened into wider protests over economic and social issues. Since then, both Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro have agreed to roll back prices on bus and metro tickets.

Hide Caption

1 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – A riot police officer confronts demonstrators in Rio de Janeiro on June 20.

Hide Caption

2 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – Photographers wait for a riot police officer to fire rubber bullets on June 20 in Rio de Janeiro.

Hide Caption

3 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – Brazilians protest against price hikes in Belo Horizonte on June 20.

Hide Caption

4 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – Horse-mounted riot police confront demonstrators in Rio de Janeiro on June 20.

Hide Caption

5 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – Demonstrators stand on a statue in Niteroi outside Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, June 19.

Hide Caption

6 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – Protesters overturn a bus in Niteroi on June 19.

Hide Caption

7 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – Riot police take positions during a protest in Sao Paulo on Tuesday, June 18.

Hide Caption

8 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – Hidden in the peaceful multitudes are bands of rowdies, leaving rubble in their wake, including this store in Sao Paulo on June 18.

Hide Caption

9 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – Students gather at Praca da Se in Sao Paulo on June 18.

Hide Caption

10 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – A press car burns in front of Sao Paulo City Hall on June 18.

Hide Caption

11 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – An unidentified person carries a television out of a store in Sao Paulo on June 18.

Hide Caption

12 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – People walk in Rio de Janeiro on June 18.

Hide Caption

13 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – Riot police form a line outside the Government Palace in Sao Paulo, on Monday, June 17.

Hide Caption

14 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – Protesters set a fire outside the Tiradentes Palace in Rio de Janeiro during a protest on June 17.

Hide Caption

15 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – A riot officer holds a position in downtown Rio de Janeiro on June 17.

Hide Caption

16 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – Thousands participate in the protest in Rio de Janeiro on June 17.

Hide Caption

17 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – Piles of trash burn in the streets of Rio de Janeiro on June 17.

Hide Caption

18 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – Protesters clash with riot police in front of Rio de Janeiro's Legislative Assembly building on June 17.

Hide Caption

19 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – Protesters clash with riot police on June 17.

Hide Caption

20 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – A riot police officer receives help after clashing with protesters on June 17.

Hide Caption

21 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – A protester receives assistance after being shot in the leg in Rio de Janeiro on June 17.

Hide Caption

22 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – Two men look at smashed ATMs in Rio de Janeiro on June 17.

Hide Caption

23 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – People stand atop the National Congress building in Brasilia, Brazil, on June 17.

Hide Caption

24 of 25

Photos: Protests in Brazil25 photos

Protests in Brazil – Thousands stand in the gardens of the National Congress in Brasilia during a protest on June 17.

Hide Caption

25 of 25

Story highlights

Simões: Brazil just seemed to have it all. With only one caveat: It did not

Inflation is a major concern, violent crime is on the rise, cases of corruption fill the press

Many realized that their lives were not as good as the government claimed, he says

Not even football - or soccer, for those in the U.S. - could stop them.

While the Confederations Cup, a warm-up tournament for next year's football World Cup, went on, hundreds of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte and many other major cities in Brazil.

In the beginning, they were few, mostly youngsters disgruntled with a 20 centavos (10 cents) rise in bus and train fares. After a violent response from the police, they were joined by Brazilians of all ages who had their own issues to shout about.

Corruption, poor public services, increasing inflation, lack of security and the not-so-much-loved-anymore World Cup.

Rogério Simões

At a time when Brazil was supposed to be celebrating, the streets were full of anger, chanting, confrontation with the police and destruction, produced by a minority of radical demonstrators.

Why did the protests gain traction? Tricky question, but there is one thing no-one can deny: A significant number of Brazilians are very upset with the state of the nation.

The transport fare hikes were canceled on Wednesday, after local authorities in Sao Paulo and Rio agreed to a U-turn in an attempt to bring back peace and order to the streets. It is still unclear whether this will mean an end to the protests.

More important than the issue, though, seems to be the timing of all this. Bus fare increases in previous years had not led to any significant popular reaction.

Brazilian protester: Where do taxes go?

Just Watched

Why Brazilians are staging protests

The same movement that started this month's protests - the Movimento Passe Livre (Free Pass Movement, or MPL) - had been active in previous years. After each announcement of a new bus fare they would go to the streets in their hundreds, sometimes only dozens, without being noticed by many.

Authorities expected the same in 2013. The latest increase, of less than 7%, was the first in two years and below the inflation of the period. The government, the press, the police and even bystanders were taken off-guard.

That could be explained by the way we look at Brazil. In the past decade, when the country took some 30 million people out of poverty, Brazilians enjoyed looking at what the country and its people had achieved: More formal employment, more investment, more growth, greater spending power for those who had none, more security and better outlook on life.

On top of that, Brazil had secured the privilege to host the two main sports events in the world - the football World Cup and the Summer (Winter in Brazil) Olympic Games - in 2014 and 2016, respectively.

Brazil just seemed to have it all. With only one caveat: It did not.

When facts of life began to remind many Brazilians that their lives were not as good as the government claimed, and the football extravaganza got closer, indicating more costs for the state without apparent benefits for the people, many people began to look at their country in a different light. Instead of focusing on the achievements, they looked at what they did not have, and that view seemed to go as far as the Amazon.

In 2010, after eight years with a hugely popular president, the former metal worker Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Brazil saw his former minister Dilma Rousseff elected as his successor.

From the same leftist Workers Party (PT), Rousseff became the first female Brazilian President. Two-and-a-half years have passed, and she is still popular among the poorest, but the recent protests were led by a different bunch: The traditional middle class. On the streets, well-educated people, from central, urban areas, shouted that they had been sold a lie.

Inflation is once again a major concern, violent crime is on the rise, cases of corruption fill the press, healthcare is in a precarious state, infrastructure projects have not materialized and street traffic is depressingly worse than ever.

While TV showed the inaugurations of costly, lavish football stadiums, people felt their lives were getting worse by the day. After all, the World Cup will cost the nation some $15 billion, and the promised legacy in infrastructure is still nowhere to be seen.

Worst of all: A government accustomed to surf on its safe popularity, secured mainly by the distribution of money to the poorest, did not feel the need to listen. Rousseff's message, in pre-recorded announcements on TV, has been that the country just could not be better.

The National Congress is even more to blame, with its representatives lashed by public opinion for shocking privileges, high salaries and cases of sleaze.

A survey by Datafolha institute, conducted this week in the city of Sao Paulo, shows a drastic fall in the prestige of political institutions in the past decade.

Only 19% of respondents say they hold the office of president in high regard, compared with 51% in 2003. The percentage of respondents who say they hold the National Congress in high regard has fallen from 30% in 2003, to 12% now.

Many who took to the streets in Brazil - and inspired Brazilians around the world to do the same in their adopted countries - carried banners saying: "It is not only about R$ 0,20."

What they meant is that the bus fare rise was perhaps the least of their concerns. Corruption, lack of accountability and a realization that many promises have not been fulfilled were what led them to the streets.

The suspension of the transport fare rise may take them back to their normal lives.

The issues, however, will not go away any time soon. And unless they are properly addressed, those problems can make the people march again.